


The Muggle Seeker

by HyperMint



Series: Summer Contacts: Revelations [3]
Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Necessary Roughness
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Magic Reveal, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-04
Updated: 2013-06-23
Packaged: 2017-12-13 22:34:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/829646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HyperMint/pseuds/HyperMint
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dani never imagined that the team's Fixer had this kind of secret.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Not doing this for anything but enjoyment.
> 
> AN: Another addition to the Summer Contacts family. Sorry, no meetings in this one, but I have a very nice adventure in store for that. 
> 
> Unfortunately, it's going to be awhile before that happens. Like after the Trio graduates. 
> 
> Stay tuned.

_We all have secrets._

_Some we’ve hid for hours, days… even years. They can be small or dangerous, depending on what it relates to._

_Secrets can help or hurt you. Some information can ruin you for decades to come._

_But you can also share secrets. The catch is that you need to have complete trust in the person you choose to include. Everyone from the kid down the street or the baker’s wife to the local celebrity._

_Being a therapist, I find myself being included in these secrets. Sometimes reluctantly, other times willingly. I get so drawn into the worlds of my patients that I can’t imagine being involved on a regular basis. They are all so skilled in what they do that it sometimes seems like magic._

_Take football for example._

_Once you get into the game, it all just falls together. This player stays over there, and does this, while another player does that._

_I’ve heard myself being referred to as an impact player. That’s fine. But, I would sometimes look at one of my co-workers and see a look on his face that suggests that an impact player isn’t what he would call me._

_We had a conversation about it once, when I was in the early days with the Hawks. I asked him if he had another name for me._

_Then, months later, he had a concussion and called me a Seeker. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but things happened and I never got the chance to ask._

_***_


	2. Chapter 2

Nico Careles was snippier than usual.

Well, Danielle “Dani” Santino called it snippy. There was no other way to call it.

The dark clothed fixer of all Hawks problems had been markedly on edge as of late and everyone knew it. The players were actually being less problematic than usual.

TK had even shown up to all their sessions together ten minutes early and actually stayed through them without wanting out before their time was up.

Not that the team behaving wasn’t a bad thing. It was just… different.

But that was beside the point.

Dani was hanging out in Matt’s office to wait for their lunch outing when she spotted Nico walking past.

Of course, she wasn’t about to miss this opportunity to talk to the Fixer, because she might not really know him very well, but the psychiatrist in her really wanted to talk to him and the friend in her didn’t like that one of her small circle was dealing with a problem seemingly by himself. She really wanted to know what the problem was and why he was taking out his frustration on everyone around him.

Seeing Nico disappear around the corner, Dani immediately stopped. She slowly peered around the corner to see him a few feet away.

Nico was leaning against the wall with his back to her and she thought he looked tense and kind of tired.

He looked forward and sighed. He leaned his head against the wall and crossed his arms. A few minutes later, he bowed his head and did something with his hands that Dani couldn’t see. Whatever he was doing, it seemed to take the edge off his tension, but only for a few short moments. He looked kind of defeated as he withdrew his phone from an inside pocket.

Dani had to curse whoever it was because whatever it was he’d just been doing had seemed to help him relax a little. Dani had to immediately leave as Nico all but ran away in response to the call. She couldn’t help but wonder what he’d been doing.

Maybe he had some sort of meditation technique, but whatever it was, she hoped he had more time to do it. Preferably soon. It appeared to help him and she really was worried about his state of mind.

Then, she wondered if she should be worried about the _physical_ health of those around him.

***

The days passed and the situation with Nico seemed to get even worse.

“Nico,” Dani caught him in the hall a few days later. “Are you sleeping?”

“Not so much,” he sighed.

“Look, I know that you’re busy, but you need to take a break.”

“Being busy is the _problem_ ,” he grit his teeth together. “I can’t get a moment to myself. If this keeps up, I don’t know how much longer I can keep it inside.”

“Nico,” she stopped him. “You know that my door is always open to you and I am always willing to help.”

She didn’t like the smile that crossed his face.

“Doctor,” he just shook his head. “At this point, I don’t know what you could do to possibly help.”

“Give me a chance, Nico! Whatever it is, there is always a way to help.”

Nico just studied her. “Not with this.”

“But do you know that? Do you really know that?”

They stared at each other for a few moments. Then, slowly, Nico reached out and laid his hands on her shoulders. Thoughtfully tilting his head, he let his gaze turn inward.

“What are you doing?” she frowned, uneasy at this sudden turn of events.

Without warning, he smiled and released her, taking a step back. “It’ll do for now,” he nodded to himself. “See you.”

Dani stared as he turned and continued down the hall with what looked like a spring in his step. Okay… That wasn’t typical Nico behavior.

Shaking her head, she turned back to continue on her own way. She was a few steps in when she realized that her shoulder was no longer bothering her.

***


	3. Chapter 3

Nico had done something to make him a little more relaxed and Dani had been curious, but was glad that he was feeling better - or at least got some sleep.

That, however, didn’t last.

It was two weeks later that something had snapped.

Dani hadn’t been present, but a lot of the usual bustle had been absent when she’d arrived.

“What in the world happened?” she shook her head as she found herself in the midst of the aftermath of Hurricane Nico.

“Hell if _I_ know,” Matt threw his hands up. “I don’t even know why, but he did take a phone call before all this,” his hand waved over what used to be the conference room. “He’s been on edge for a while, Dani. Have you had any luck trying to get through to him?”

“Matt,” she sighed. “Nico is not easy to get through to. There is so much there, I wouldn’t even know how to start.”

Matt rubbed his mouth as he studied her. “You can start in the locker room,” he finally told her. “That’s where he went. I don’t what else to do. Dani, you need to talk to him. The team’s practice has been cancelled, so you’ve got all the time you need.”

Matt escorted her there, only to find the entire team waiting for them in their street clothes, but that didn’t take away from their alert stances.

“Hey,” Matt frowned as he looked them over. “What’s going on?”

TK gave them a once-over. “Doctor D’s goin’ in there. Nico ain’t one for beatin’ people up, but there’s a first time for everythin’. Now, Doctor D, nothin’ against ya, but ya ain’t really built for takin’ on Nico if he decides to… ya know, charge.”

“That’s why we’re here,” one of the others rumbled. “Doc, if you have one doubt, you just say the word and we’ll -”

“- come kick his mysterious, loner bird ass,” TK broke in. “You don’t like it in there, you get out and leave it to us.”

They all nodded.

“Yeah. Nico’s unpredictable,” one of the other players piped up.

“We don’t want you getting hurt, Doctor D,” Booze told her up front. “Nico might scare us a little sometimes, but we’ll gladly face off with him if he lays a finger on you.”

Dani smiled widely at them, a warm feeling spreading through her at their game faces. She had no doubt that Nico wouldn’t know what hit him if he so much as breathed wrong in her direction. But, Nico was her friend, too. “Thank you. All of you for doing this, but I’ll be fine.”

“You let us be the judge of that,” TK told her.

A few minutes later, Dani took a last look at the waiting group before letting the door close on the doorstop. The small crack of light ensured a quick response from the others should she yell loud enough. Focusing on her task, she slowly made her way deeper into the locker room’s dark interior.

“Nico?” she called, cautiously peering into the shadows in case he tried to blindside her. “Nico, it’s Dani. Nico, we really need to talk. The team’s waiting at the door to make sure we’re not interrupted.”

She stopped in the middle of the room and strained her ears for any sign of him. She startled violently as a door shut.

“Nico?” she went forward to where she thought the noise had come from. Once she found the locker door, she didn’t see him. Another noise led her to the showers. That was where she found him, at the very back, in the corner.

He had his arms draped over his slightly bent knees and his head hanging down to his chest.

“Nico…”

“Doctor,” he tiredly raised his head and leaned it back against the wall behind him.

She slowly came to a stop before him. “Are you ready to talk now?”

He watched her from lidded eyes. “No.”

“Nico,” she blew out a frustrated breath. She dropped to her knees where she stood. “You need help. Today is a good example of why. Now, I am not leaving until we’re finished to my satisfaction.”

They watched each other for long minutes.

“I’m waiting,” she finally said, still on her knees in front of him, sitting on her heels.

Nico kept his eyes on her, seemingly sizing her up, but to what standards, she couldn’t hope to imagine.

“Dani,” she blinked as he used her nickname. “Come here.”

Looking first left, then right, she slid forward until she was between his legs in front of him.

“This is as far as I go,” she weakly joked as she sat back.

He smiled slightly. “That’s fine.” He reached past the few inches between them to take her hands.

Dani watched his eyes study their joined hands before he closed them. Nico moved their hands so that hers were folded together and his cupped them.

“Dani,” he opened his eyes for a few seconds. “I need to trust you completely.”

“Well, you can trust me, but that’s up to you.”

“I already do,” he stared into her eyes. “But you need to understand. I have many secrets, Dani. What I am about to show you is the biggest one I have. I haven’t told this to anyone else since I was eleven. I need to know that, whatever else, you don’t tell a soul. Not without my _express_ permission. Do I make myself clear?”

Dani studied his serious expression before nodding. “Not a soul.”

Nico closed his eyes again. “I need to discharge every few days, but I haven’t been able to. I know you have questions, but I have things to take care of before I’m able to fully explain.”

“I can wait,” she lifted a shoulder. They fell silent. After awhile, Dani looked around.

Nothing was happening.

“Uh, Nico?”

“Patience,” he frowned, eyes still closed. “It’s never been this long and it wants to come rushing out.”

“I can handle it,” she assured with a confidence she didn’t feel.

“No, you can’t,” he sighed. “No one can.”

Dani knelt there for twenty more minutes. There was still nothing happening… right?

She frowned slightly as she realized an odd tension building in the atmosphere. ‘Nico had said ‘discharge’, didn’t he?’ she wasn’t sure what was going on with him.

It was about this time that she started feeling warm. Her eyes closing against her will, she focused on that strange warmth. It seemed to be traveling from her shoulders, down her arms and finally gathering in her fingers.

“Do you believe in magic, Dani?” Nico asked from in front of her. “You can do anything, you know. Make things fly, set things on fire… create complex things with a single thought.”

“Mm. But it’s still just a dream,” she smiled slightly. “A great one, though.”

“Open your eyes.”

Slitting an eye open, she looked at him. Nico looked… more relaxed than she’d seen him in a long while. Letting the other eye open, she tilted her head as he let his eyes fall to their hands.

Dani let hers follow and every thought in her head came to a screeching halt.

Nico gently pulled her hands apart to reveal a flower. A flower made of fire and water, twisting in and out of themselves in a complex and beautifully intricate design.

“Unh,” she looked down at what Nico had created - because there was not a doubt in her mind - and back up at him with wide brown eyes. Her mouth was moving, but no discernable words revealed themselves.

Nico just smiled slightly, brown eyes soft with understanding. “Congratulations, Dani,” he murmured. “As of right now, you are the only person outside my family who knows about my magic.”

***


End file.
